November 2010 Blog Posts (43)

The Many Shades of One Color: Part 1

Green is almost undeniably one of the most marketed colors as it relates to the environment, sustainability, and energy. But what exactly does “green” mean in relation to environmental and energy issues?

More importantly, can a modern product or process really be considered green, and if so, by what benchmark? For example, we know that CFLs use less energy than incandescent lights, but does consuming less energy really make a product greener?

To begin, the word green has… Continue

Added by Nathan Christensen on November 29, 2010 at 11:00am — 2 Comments

Archimedes, Einstein, and Home Energy: Searching for the Eureka Moment

These thoughts come from somewhere out in left field WRT home performance--from the perspective of a humanist intellectual who happens to have a fascination with applied building science. The subject is not solving a problem it is a philosophical consideration of The Problem. Some readers may find accordingly that the remarks below are interesting--others not so much.

Humanist intellectuals in general are people who are interested in a wide spectrum of subjects and who often study them… Continue

Added by Ed Voytovich on November 28, 2010 at 6:41am — 6 Comments

The Oldest Boiler in the UK

Click here....

Added by John Barba on November 27, 2010 at 3:49pm — No Comments

Are Energy Assessments a Commodity?

On the news today was the data showing the new Nissan Leaf will get 99 mpg. That is amazing! Is this a step in the right direction? Well maybe a little, but I think it is more a step laterally and not one that moves us closer toward energy independence. The way I am looking at this is that it gets the masses thinking about using less and getting more, which is the fundamental meaning of efficiency, but it is not without costs. If we don’t have a…

Continue

Added by Jamie Kaye on November 27, 2010 at 5:31am — 2 Comments

Under Construction

Home Energy Pros is a great place for professionals in the home energy field to gather online. We need more communities where people committed to green homes can meet and network. This is why Green Making is building a new website that will facilitate community at the local level. We are expecting to have our site in beta testing early next year (2011). Isn’t that just around the corner?…

Continue

Added by Rich Wingerter on November 24, 2010 at 10:30am — No Comments

EPA Seeks Public Comment on Draft Environmental Protocols for Home Energy Upgrades

Hello All:

With so many HEP participants already being deluged with relevant (and sometimes irrelevant) information about the industry, it's difficult to decide when to add yet another layer by posting a press release such as this. For those who are top of this, forgive me. For those who aren't, and pretty much don't care, hope you'll forgive me too...

During my brief time with this group, I have come to very much respect the remarkable level of…

Continue

Added by Steve Waclo on November 23, 2010 at 1:00pm — 1 Comment

Get Ready for a Lower HERS Index in ENERGY STAR Version 3!

Last week I got the new version of REM/Rate, the accredited home energy rating software that we use here at Energy Vanguard Energy…

Continue

Added by Allison A. Bailes III on November 23, 2010 at 12:16pm — 1 Comment

Time to change habits, as well as light bulbs?

We are bombarded daily by advertisements selling us soft drinks, pharmaceuticals, cars, insurance, junk food, teeth whitener, diet programs, and on and on. But when was the last time someone…

Continue

Added by Elisa Wood on November 23, 2010 at 10:03am — 3 Comments

Is There a Doctor in the House?

Why do we go to doctors when we are sick? Isn’t it to find out what is wrong with us? Don’t we rely on our doctors’ education, expertise, and experiences to provide us with a proper diagnosis? Sometimes they are able to diagnose our problem and provide us with a plan of action or prescription to make us feel better. Sometimes, they refer us to a specialist that can better diagnose our problems. To 99% of the population, that…

Continue

Added by Jon LaMonte on November 22, 2010 at 11:00am — 3 Comments

What's Next for Weatherization: Pioneers in Community Energy Leadership

At the recent NCAF Energy Leveraging conference, one of the big questions on the minds of attendees was how do we keep over 1700 weatherization subgrantees alive after the ARRA stimulus funding runs out? As Bob Adams, Program Lead with the U.S. Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program, said,"We don't want [the unemployment of weatherization staff] to be our post-ARRA legacy. The crystal ball is really cloudy, but there are a lot of believers who are… Continue

Added by Tom White on November 21, 2010 at 10:00am — 4 Comments

Let's Talk Preservation - Part 2

In my previous journal entry, “Let’s Talk Preservation: Part 1”, I briefly touched on why Energy Star certified homes, despite their high levels of efficiency, still inflict considerable damage to the

environment.

We know that Energy Star homes reach their certification by making use of high efficiency windows, appliances, insulation, and HVAC systems. However, regardless of how little energy a new home consumes,

it still requires exceptional levels of energy to…

Continue

Added by Nathan Christensen on November 19, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Democrats More Prone to Guilt

In general Democrats are more sensitive to the negative effect of their actions on others. That is one conclusion of a study done by Cornell University researchers, who shared their findings at the Behavior, Energy, and Climate Change Conference (BECC) now taking place in Sacramento. Cornell Economist Benjamin Ho explained that an extensive human behavior study showed that Democrats are more likely to respond to television commercials and… Continue

Added by Jim Gunshinan on November 18, 2010 at 10:46am — 2 Comments

Why I am optimistic about the future of Energy Efficiency industry.

As I sit here typing I am for the in a long time optimistic about our industry. The crash and burn of PACE and subsequently Homestar left many of us wondering if our industry would ever make it to prime time.

I have new found optimism. I am actually excited. In the last month I have seen the following.

Vice President Biden and the news conference regarding Home Score. Agree with it or not it got press. It also…

Continue

Added by Glen Gallo on November 18, 2010 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

Home Energy's associate editor gets published in the ASTM's "Standardization News"

In a shameless bit of self-promotion, I am excited to announce that me and my colleague-on-ground, Kevin Rowell were picked up by the ASTM's "Standardization News" in an article about the potential of re-introducing the vernacular building styles into Haiti's post-disaster housing crisis.

The article, entitled "Taking the Long View in… Continue

Added by Leslie Jackson on November 17, 2010 at 4:34pm — 1 Comment

Let's Talk Preservation - Part 1

Every day, while traveling to or coming home from work, I hear an advertisement for new Energy Star homes under construction or ready for purchase. While I have the utmost respect for what Energy Star

certification stands for and hopes to accomplish, I don’t believe I could ever own one myself. Energy Star and other similarly accredited homes offer quite a bit in terms of energy efficiency, but in terms of lessening the homes impact on the environment…I’m not entirely…

Continue

Added by Nathan Christensen on November 15, 2010 at 2:00pm — 1 Comment

Fluke TiR Featured in new Home Energy Auditing Commercial

Our TiR Thermal Imager was featured in the new Baltimore Gas & Electric home energy inspection commercial! We couldn’t be happier about seeing our signature Fluke-yellow imager featured in this commercial,

which began airing around the greater Baltimore area in late September.

For nearly 200 years, Baltimore Gas & Electric has been meeting the energy needs of Central Maryland, serving more than 1.2 million business and residential electric customers and more…

Continue

Added by Fluke Thermal Imaging on November 15, 2010 at 10:47am — No Comments

Taking the Home Energy Scoring Tool a Step Further

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) puts a great deal of focus and concern into the area of weatherization. An abundant amount of recovery act funding went towards weatherization and in return the reduction of energy consumption. In an attempt to make the auditing and assessing aspect of weatherization readily available and understood by both experts and consumers alike the DOE has created the Home Energy Scoring Tool.

This tool is available online for free and unlike similar…

Continue

Added by Silas Inman on November 11, 2010 at 1:00pm — 4 Comments

TopTenUSA: The most energy efficient products

TopTen USA is a new non-profit organization that makes it easy for consumers to find the most energy efficient products. World Wildlife Fund is a partner in TopTen USA and blogs about the new website:

Help…

Continue

Added by Diane Chojnowski on November 10, 2010 at 3:30pm — No Comments

EERE/DOE Encouraging Homeowners to Invest in Energy Efficiency Improvements

Hello All:

Perhaps I'm not looking closely enough, but I've not noticed mention of these daily updates from DOE. In the unlikely event any members are unaware of the service, here's the latest release and I believe there is also info on signing up:…

Continue

Added by Steve Waclo on November 10, 2010 at 12:43pm — No Comments

Man’s Best (and Most Energy Efficient?) Friend

My cousin Mark is a pretty smart guy who reads widely. (All my cousins are above average.) Here is what Mark sent to me in an e-mail about dogs:…

Continue

Added by Jim Gunshinan on November 9, 2010 at 12:30pm — 2 Comments

‹ Previous
1
2
3
Next ›

Featured Blog Posts

View All

Latest Blog Posts

Monthly Archives

2013

June (10)
May (38)
April (30)
March (29)
February (47)
January (44)

2012

December (30)
November (41)
October (38)
September (37)
August (43)
July (39)
June (38)
May (30)
April (35)
March (37)
February (41)
January (45)

2011

December (35)
November (48)
October (43)
September (37)
August (25)
July (25)
June (23)
May (19)
April (39)
March (45)
February (31)
January (45)

2010

December (47)
November (56)
October (23)
September (2)
July (2)
May (2)
March (2)
January (2)

Welcome to
Home Energy Pros

Sign Up
or Sign In

Or sign in with:

Home Energy Pros

Home Energy Pros was founded by the developers of Home Energy Saver Pro (sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and brought to you in partnership with Home Energy magazine.